Here We Go Again
by HYpatheticallySPEAKING
Summary: Anita Legna is a scholarship student with a talent for piano. Elsie Nagami is a manga-obsessed rich girl looking for a fun time. When they go to school at Ouran, these two best friends somehow become entangled with the Hitachiin twins- the only two remaining members of the Host Club. Pranks, comedy and romance ensues. Rated T for language. Co-authored with oOMidnightStarOo.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1, Part 1- Anita**

The sky was a pale blue and fluffy white clouds streaked the sky. The roar of the jets from the airport made the petite girl cover her ears, and the wind made her loose brown curls fly everywhere. Her brown eyes watched the throng of people, searching for her fellow transfer student.

"Anita!" The brunette turned around to see the familiar redhead running towards her.

"Hey Elsie," Anita said with a smile, speaking in English. "Are you excited for this school to start tomorrow?"

Elsie sighed. "It's school, do you think I'm excited?"

Anita shook her head, and headed towards baggage claim. The two girls waited anxiously. After a few minutes, the last of Anita's bags appeared. Anita's bright purple suitcases were decorated with the American flag, and she could already feel slight nostalgia for her home. The brunette picked up her bag, snatching it up off the rotating trolley. The heavy bag gained too much momentum, and Anita fell backwards, bumping into a random Japanese guy their age.

"So-" she began to apologize in English, but then immediately changed to Japanese. "So sorry!" she squeaked, realizing that the boy had toppled to the ground. She extended a hand for the boy.

He took her hand with a smile, and helped himself up, and Anita realized that the redhead was wearing the boy's version of the school uniform.

"It's okay I guess- do I have something on my shirt?" he asked looking down at his uniform.

"N-no," she stuttered. "I'm going to that school."

A smile crept across the boy's face. "I'll see you tomorrow then, probably." He winked, and walked over to... a boy who looked exactly the same.

Anita wanted to hit herself in the head with one of her books to ensure that she wasn't hallucinating, when Elsie walked over and slung her arm around her shoulder. "So who's the cutie?" She said in English, and Anita breathed a sigh of relief that most people wouldn't be able to understand what the redhead was saying.

"Not that he's cute, but I have no clue..." Anita replied, her voice trailing off. "And was he flirting with me?"

Elsie waggled her eyebrows.

"Take that as a yes, then... Bloody brilliant." She said the last part sarcastically and with a British accent.

"He was really cute," said Elsie, beginning to blush. But oh, did Anita know that smile all too well.

"No, please tell me you're not... Elsie, just no, that's wrong," groaned Anita, the accent now stuck. Anita extended the handle of her suitcase and began walking out of the terminal, shaking her head. "Are you coming, or are you going to be standing there grinning like an idiot all day?"

The redhead snapped out of her reverie, and began following her friend. "Sheesh."

The two walked to the nearby bus station and waited for the next scheduled stop. Anita nearly fell asleep on her feet, while leaning against Elsie. When the bus arrived, she shook the cobwebs out of her head, and the two headed towards their shared apartment, which Elsie's mother and father provided for them to share.

When the two arrived, Elsie dragged Anita's bags into the main room, and unceremoniously plopped them onto the floor. "Home sweet home," Elsie said with a dramatic flourish.

"Thanks." Anita dragged her bags to the room that had a sign attached that said 'Anita's room'. It was small, probably about ten feet by twelve. Anita poked her head into the neighboring room- Elsie's room. It was not much bigger, but there were mangas strewn across the floor. Anita returned to her room, and began unpacking her things- a laptop, clothes, some books, and a couple things from home that she could not live without.

Elsie simply sat down on the floor and began to read as Anita unpacked. "Hey, what do you want for dinner?"

Anita sighed. "Isn't it more like... Never mind- jet lag. Speaking of which- goodnight." The brunette slipped into a pair of pajamas and laid down. Within a matter of minutes, her breathing slowed, and normally nothing would be able to wake her for a good hour.

A creepy grin appeared on Elsie's face. Quietly, she ran to the bathroom, and filled a small bowl with warm water. Slowly, she lowered it near Anita's hand. Taking her hand gently, she tried to guide it near the bowl, but suddenly, Anita punched her.

"What the hell?" Anita said, her drowsy state taking away her curse-filter. "What are you doing with my hand?"

Elsie quickly stowed the bowl on the floor.

"I saw it Elsie, don't even bother."

Elsie hung her head in shame. "I wanted to see if it would make you pee yourself."

"Lovely," Anita grumbled. She pointed to the door. "Out. I need my sleep unless you want me to tell everyone _stuff_ about you tomorrow."

"What kind of stuff?" Elsie said, cocking her head to the side and raising an eyebrow.

"OUT!" Anita bellowed, getting out of bed and pushing Elsie out of the room. She slammed her door shut, and locked the door. She breathed a sigh of relief. "Peace and qui-"

"Can I have the bowl back?" Elsie's voice came through the door.

"Bloody-" Anita picked the bowl off the ground, and opened her door. She then splashed the tall redhead in the face with the water, and held out the bowl. "Here."

_Note to self: _Elsie thought. _Don't wake the Anita._

The door slammed shut and Anita dove onto her bed. "Goodnight, FOR REAL!"

The next day, Anita woke up to find Elsie twirling around in her uniform.

"I look like a princess!" she cheered, prancing about. "This is so adorable, look look look it flutters around me!"

Anita grimaced at the color as she looked down at the slightly smaller version that she was wearing. "Yellow? Of all the colors in the world, they choose yellow? And it looks like a stinking ball gown for that matter!"

"Fun sucker," Elsie said as she continued twirling, stopping to help Anita zipper her dress.

"Barf color would look better than this," Anita commented as Elsie's spinning made her feel nauseous. "When do we need to be there?"

"Five minutes..."

Anita grabbed her bag. "A little more warning next time?" she said as she practically bolted out the door.

The school was only a block away, but Anita was a stickler for being prompt, while Elsie was laid back until the last moment when she rushed but still managed to finish. By the time they had arrived at the school, most of the students were already inside, but the two girls' jaws literally dropped when they saw the mansion-like building. It was a stark contrast from the pragmatic and spartan apartment they were given.

The two walked into the main hall, unsure of where their classes were. They had received their schedules in the mail when they got their acceptance letters. They shared a blank look around, and found themselves wandering the gigantic building, searching for their classroom.

Anita was about to give up when she saw a familiar-looking face. Unfortunately, Elsie reacted first. "It's the cute boy!" she all but shouted.

Anita felt like curling up in a ball. It appeared that the boy could understand English. _Crud. _Anita's face flushed red with embarrassment. "Hi," she said, switching to Japanese. "Do you know where class 3-A is?"

The boy smirked. "Told you we'd meet again."

_Can it,_ Anita's inner voice said- more like screamed. "Yes, but I really need to get to class. Now."

"Hitachiin. Hikaru." A boy, who Anita assumed to be his twin, was cornered by Elsie. "And that's my twin, Kaoru."

"I pity the poor soul."

"Well, you don't look like a fun person either," huffed Hikaru, rolling his eyes.

"I meant the poor soul that Elsie- my friend there- has decided to talk to." Anita raised her voice so that Elsie could hear her comment.

"What, Anita? I'm not a bad person or anything!" Her face had a pleading look that said, 'Shut up so I can flirt.'

"The classroom is where?" Anita asked Hikaru, ignoring Elsie.

"Come on," Hikaru responded. "That's our class as well."

Elsie squealed, causing Anita to flinch and grab her friend's arm. "We're going to class now, so please, please, please act normal." Anita pleaded in English. Hikaru grinned. "So you can speak English." she said, frowning.

"Never said I didn't." Hikaru responded in English.

"Never said you did," Anita quipped in Japanese.

"Oh snap," gasped Elsie, "Anita is actually _flirting_!" she said in a sing-song voice.

Anita facepalmed. "So, where's the classroom?"

**Thanks for reading. This story is planned to be a multichapter work by me, HYpatheticallySPEAKING, and my best friend for ever, oOMidnightStarOo. Please comment/review, even if you're a guest- **if there' aren't any comments we'll take our minds off of this *ehem* project, and maybe actually start some homework. **If there's a lot of comments (my opinion, more than 2) I'll update this chapter early.**

**Edit: OMG, I'm so sorry, I originally put up the unedited version with discrepancies. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 1, Part 2- Elsie**

The group walked down the hall, and Elsie was chatting animatedly with Kaoru. She could feel her heart beating faster, but decided it was from the nerves of not having her normal cup of coffee in the morning- instead she had three without Anita discovering. She smiled, her bubbly personality appearing once more.

"So, your name's Elsie?" Kaoru said, not changing from his native language.

Elsie nodded, grinning widely. "Yep. You're Kaoru, then," Elsie said, analyzing the boy's face and voice. "I'll remember you."

He looked at her incredulously. "I'm an identical twin," Kaoru said doubtfully.

"And I'm a smart girl," Elsie said, flipping her hair, flirting shamelessly.

"No matter how smart-"

"Is that a challenge?" Elsie said with a flirtatious smile.

Before Kaoru could respond, Hikaru's voice took her by surprise. "Here we are!"

Anita grabbed her friend's arm and dragged her through the door. "Sorry, sensei!" Anita said, bowing.

There were four seats grouped together in the back. Anita took the one that was situated close to the window, Hikaru sat behind her, and Kaoru sat next to Hikaru. Elsie sighed. _Didn't even get a choice_. She sat in front of Kaoru, and next to Anita.

Class, to say the least, was boring. The sensei had a monotone voice that seemed to bounce off the walls. Elsie wondered how none of the others were falling asleep. She doodled in her spiral-bound notebook for the majority of class- Anita was always wonderful at taking notes, or so she claimed, and was a perfect person to leech off of.

The final bell rang a little less than a half an hour before noon, and everyone headed out. The boys had some sort of club to go to, so Anita suggested that they walk around the school for a bit. Elsie agreed, and led the way around the school.

Suffice to say, they got lost.

They found their way to the music wing, and Anita suggested that they peek inside one of them, figuring that there might be a piano that she could use to practice in her free time. Elsie smiled, and gestured for Anita to go first. The two walked in quietly, admiring the huge room that was easily twenty times the size of their apartment.

Anita nearly knocked over a vase, when she stumbled on her skirt again, but Elsie managed to catch the brunette.

They were breathing a sigh of relief when a chorus of voices echoed behind them.

"Welcome to the Host Club!"

"What the-" Anita stopped herself before she cursed.

Elsie started laughing like a madwoman until Anita elbowed her in the gut. "What?"

"Anita-" said one of the twins.

"And Elsie?" finished the other.

The two girls slowly turned around to face... the twins... in cosplay.

"Oh my gosh... they're nerds..." gasped Elsie. If a gasp could be loud, this was it. The boys immediately stiffened.

Anita made a one-eighty and headed for the door with a wave of her hand, only to get that waving hand captured by Elsie.

"Come on, 'Nita!" Elsie said, yanking her arm. She leaned over to whisper in the fleeing girl's ear, "Please let me talk to the cute guys, _please_?" The redhead gave a puppy-dog face that Anita could never say no to. "So... a Host Club?"

Anita finally tore her gaze away from the two boys they had met before to look at Elsie. On the outside, she appeared flirtatious and calm, but one look at her slightly twitching mouth gave her away. Anita bit back a laugh. _She feels overwhelmed!_

Meanwhile, Elsie is thinking: _Oh Dear Lord, soooo hot. Someone help me I can't deal with this._

The two girls shared a nervous glance, and Anita started with her British accent again, speaking quietly in rapid-fire English. "Elsie- I need to get out of here now, or else I'm gonna have a bloody panic attack!"

Elsie rolled her eyes. "You turned British again, 'Nita." She said, mimicking Anita's adopted accent.

"Shut up!" Anita said, her voice becoming shriller.

"Shut up!" Elsie mimicked again, laughing.

Anita rolled her eyes, and turned away. "I'm heading home. There's a thing called relaxing, and that's what I'm gonna do." Anita yanked her arm out of Elsie's grasp, and turned to the boys who were watching intently. Changing the language to Japanese, she said, "Nice to meet you, but I need to go now. Elsie, have fun." At the last comment, she rolled her eyes, and stalked out of the room.

Elsie glanced from the door and back to the boys and back again. She sighed from the internal torment. On one hand, Anita _did_ say she could have fun and what not. But on the other hand, she was supposed to be supportive of her only friend in the whole country. But cute boys... but friends...

Elsie chose the boys- Anita was such a stickler for rules, and a total nincompoop when it came to guys who clearly like her.

Instant regret.

Of the two of them, Anita clearly had the more advanced language capabilities despite the fact that Elsie's dad was Japanese and she visited her grandparents every other summer. After the first couple of sentences, Elsie began looking at the door again. Maybe if she ran really fast?

And run really fast she did. Right into the boy who was also running at top speed, if it could have been considered that. It was more of a jog really. Just what kind of phys. ed did this school have? This boy was clearly out of shape! Regardless, it caused quite a painful collision.

"I- I'm so sorry!" cried out Elsie. She bowed deeply. Oh dear, she'd never hear the end of this. … "Hikaru?"

"What?" The boy said, rubbing his head. "That hurt! Do you have a skull made of metal or something?"

Elsie crossed her arms. "Do you have a skull made up of pillows?" Elsie frowned at her lame comeback. Oh wow. As if the crash wasn't embarrassing enough. Shame on her, shame on her family, and shame on her cow.

"Cow?" Hikaru asked, raising an eyebrow. "Do you have a concussion?"

"Oh shit." He heard.

"Yeah, I heard. Your inner thoughts monologue isn't exactly being filtered at the moment."

Fuck.

"Language. Heard that too. That's a universal curse word, we're not stupid."

I need Anita.

"What's her phone number?"

Hell, I'm not giving it to you, you plebeian.

"Sheesh, harsh! I'll have you know my pinkie finger is worth more than you."

"Well, fu... fudge you too you arse... God, Anita's rubbing off on me." Elsie rummaged for her phone through the folds of her skirt. She managed to find her phone, and call the first number on speed dial- Anita.

Ring.

Ring.

Ring.

"What is it _now_, Elsie?" Anita's voice blared through the phone.

"I think I have a... concussion... maybe? Anita please send help."

Anita's sigh could be heard through the phone. "Be back in a second." The brunette showed up in less than thirty seconds, changed into street clothes- a tanktop with a ripped tee on top, and bright blue skinny jeans. She was carrying a large bag that was currently holding her yellow uniform. Her eyes wandered up and down her friend. "Geez, Elsie, I leave you alone for three minutes and you're on the floor with a concussion." Anita turned to the boy, scrutinizing the twin.

Help me please.

"...I see you haven't exactly realized that everything you think is being said aloud..." Anita sighed and looked over at the Hitachiin. "So Hikaru, then." Anita said sagely, crossing her arms.

Help, I need an adult Anita.

"Oh, hush, Elsie, I'm talking right now," said Anita. "What's your mother's full name? And where do we live?" Anita asked basic questions, motioning for Elsie to respond- basic concussion checks.

"My mom's name is Elizabeth Maureen Nagami… Maiden name Kostine- you know that, dumbo. After all, she paid for the apartment we share. We live in the little apartment down the block. I'm pretty sure it's number 3C. But what I do know is that it's the one the most to the left on ground level."

"Good enough." Anita squatted down to eye level with Elsie. She extended a finger. "Follow the finger-" she moved her finger up, down, right and left. "Okay, you're good. It's not a concussion. You probably just hit your head pretty hard, and that's why your filter's off." Anita stood up and squatted down next to Hikaru. "And you, how's your head."

"I'm fine." Hikaru said. "It's not really bad. I've been through worse."

A stern and motherly expression appeared on the short girl's face. "Oh, no. I can't trust the word of someone who could potentially be concussed, no matter how small the chance." Anita repeated the tests she had done with Elsie on Hikaru, using different questions. "You're fine. I'd recommend to ice that though." she pointed the twin's head. Anita spun around on her heel and helped Elsie up to standing. "Come on Elsie. Let's get you home."

But... the cute boys!

"No, Elsie, it's time to go home." Anita sighed. "Can you stand?"

Elsie nodded her head and winced.

Anita led her to the wall so Elsie had something to lean against in case. The brunette then went to help up the boy. "Come on," she said, practically yanking Hikaru up from the ground.

"Wha-?"

"I'm stronger than I look, deal with it." Anita's voice was straining to keep calm. "Kaoru!" she shouted, her voice echoing off the walls. "Come out here and help your idiot brother!"

"Hey! I'm no-" Hikaru's indignant exclamation was cut off by a glare from Anita.

"Yes?" Kaoru said, sticking his head out of the music room, and there was an impish grin on his face. He must have heard their entire conversation.

"Please take your brother. I have another idiot to take care of, and a job to get to," Anita huffed, and jabbed her thumb over her shoulder at the redhead who was stabilizing herself on the wall. "See you tomorrow- wait. Kaoru, can you take down my phone number and tell me if he gets better?"

"Sure?" Kaoru said, confused. He then took out his cell phone and handed it to her. "Just type it in."

Anita nodded, and did so. "Just so you know, you might want to have him put ice on that... Otherwise his forehead will be black and blue..." The school bell rang once, and Anita sighed. "See you tomorrow."

And with that, Anita put one of Elsie's arms around her shoulders, and practically carried her dazed friend to their apartment.

Upon returning home, Elsie fell into deep slumber. Strange how a pair of golden eyes simply would not leave her dreams. After she awoke, the mischievous grin of a certain boy was stuck in her head. _Stupid not real concussion_.

**A/N: Hello, I'd like to say a few words. Thank you to SuClover for her review! It means a lot to us. Also thanks to Sabrina, whoever you are ;)  
****Okay, so here's the deal. I wasn't going to update this until Saturday, but then I realized that I'll be away from my computer until the end of next week. So happy early update :) Read, Review... you know what to do.****  
**


	3. Chapter 3

**Here you go! Another chapter from Elsie's view. And, just so ya know, I'll be updating every Saturday. Now, for the story... Oh wait, I forgot a disclaimer in the earlier chapters (though I don't see the point of them- it's ****_fanfiction_****...)**

**DISCLAIMER: We don't own anything other than Elsie and Anita and the plot. We swear!**

**Chapter 2-Elsie**

Elsie woke up the next morning with a splitting headache. " 'Nita? Are you there?" Elsie checked the clock, her vision swimming. It was almost noon, meaning school would be out in less than an hour. The redhead pulled herself out of bed, and walked out of her room, avoiding the piles of manga and clothes on her bedroom floor. There was a note on the kitchen table:

"_Elsie, By the time you get this school will probably be more than halfway through, but don't worry. I'm gonna tell the teachers that you have a slight concussion and that you're staying home. Which, for once, is the truth. There's some rice balls in the fridge, and there's also some fresh fish that you can put with it. I know you're not big on cooking, but that should sustain you until I manage to get back. If your head still hurts, take some medicine- there's some in the cabinet above the sink. I'll get your homework to you as soon as I can, so go over your notes from yesterday, kay? Please be careful and make sure you take something if your head hurts. ~'Nita"_

"Rice balls! Yum yum yummy in my tummy!" sang Elsie, ignoring most of the note. Except for the rice balls of course. Her headache was still prominent, but she pushed it to the back of her mind.

There was a whole platter of rice balls- clearly more than anyone should eat in one sitting. "CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!" Elsie shouted and began to dig in.

She had finished the final rice ball when her head started to pound really badly. There was a knock at the door. Dazed, she ambled to the door, and opened it.

A concerned pair of golden eyes looked at her a little worried, and a face that she had normally seen with a coy grin now held a distressed frown.

"Elsie, are you okay? This was a stupid idea, I wasn't even expecting you to answer," mumbled the boy.

"Hi... wait... Kaori... no... Kaoru?" grumbled Elsie, looking confused. Her eyes widened in alarm. "HOLD ON A SECOND." she promptly slammed the door in his face and ran to her room almost tripping over a small stack of mangas. She let out a loud screech of an expletive, and tumbled into her closet.

She tore out a nice green blouse and wrestled it over her head before realizing it was still buttoned. she pulled up some shorts and shoved all of the stray mangas and junk in her room under the bed.

There was another knock on the door. "HOLD ON I'M ALMOST DONE!"

She quickly bolted to the kitchen, grabbed the plate that once housed many dozens of rice balls and threw it in the sink, wincing at the loud cracking sound. No anime physics here my friends. The knocking became more persistent.

"Are you okay? What happened?"

"Nothing happened!" she shouted back, shoving the moving boxes into a corner before checking herself in the mirror. Well... her hair didn't look too bad... and who was she kidding, she looked like she just tried to get all of her morning chores done in less than five minutes. Oh wait.

She yanked a hat off of the small hooks near the door and pulled it over her head. Taking some mints she stuffed a handful in her mouth and chewed, praying she could swallow them in about 4 seconds.

Too late, she already opened the door. Keeping her mouth shut, she waved at the guest. He stared back confused.

"Is this how westerners usually greet guests?"

Elsie frantically shook her head, and then grabbed it- the pain was coming back. _Shit_. Elsie swallowed the mints. "No, sorry. Come in, sorry it's messy..." Elsie headed to the kitchen table, wincing at all the things on the floor.

"Heh, it really is messy," teased Kaoru.

Elsie's face fell. "I'm sorry- you're probably used to really... spiff and span... places..."_Like me. I really want my housekeeper... Wait, I have Anita._ Another throb from her head made her wonder where the medicine was. She glanced at the note Anita had left. "Just a second." She skimmed through it, and found where Anita had moved the meds to. She opened up the cabinet, and grabbed a bottle of ibuprofen. She downed two with a glass of water and then gestured for Kaoru to take a seat.

"It's okay. This... almost reminds me of someone. Or well, two people, but that's not important. How are you feeling?" he asked, setting a bag on the table.

"Like poo," mumbled Elsie sitting down as well.

"Oh, Anita asked me to give this work to you- she got detention for showing up to school late and then falling asleep during class," he said calmly, pushing the bag towards Elsie. "Aaaaand," he drawled, opening the bag, and pulling out a small box, "Hikaru felt bad about bumping into you yesterday, so he kind of told me to give you something as an apology so-"

"No he didn't," interrupted Elsie, making grabby hands towards the box. He pushed it closer to her and she pulled it the rest of the way. "He's not sorry. I could tell. Oooooh, matcha cake! My favorite!"

"Wait what?" asked Kaoru, staring at her.

"Well, you know, a lot of people think it's bitter, but I think it's the nice kind of-"

"Not the cake. What did you mean by, well, Hikaru. What were you talking about?"

"He... didn't look sorry? At all? If anyone thought about getting me this it was you. Not him. Ah, today is a good day! Rice balls, and now matcha cake! There is no way this can get- HEY!"

"NO MATCHA CAKE FOR YOU UNTIL YOU ANSWER MY QUESTION!"

"But... you gave it to me. IT'S MINE!" Elsie screamed. Kaoru held the box above his head.

"JUST ANSWER THE QUESTION!"

"NEVER!" Despite her above average height, Elsie found herself trying to jump to reach the cake. He ran and Elsie followed. Of course, there is a reason why you're not supposed to run around in a messy apartment, especially when you have a headache. Feeling dizzy, Elsie tried to keep up, but could only just barely make out Kaoru dodging manga piles. Elsie could just barely keep up with-

"AAAAAH!" with a sharp shriek, Elsie tripped over a small stool, and fell on Kaoru. The poor cake did not survive the fall, and attached itself instead to Kaoru's face.

"My... my cake..." cried Elsie, sitting up. Realizing what had happened, she began to cry harder. "I'm so sorry, my head was spinning and I tripped and I got cake all over your face, and you probably got hurt and my head still hurts and, and, and -hic!"

This is such a sad and pathetic picture. Here is a grown young lady crying over a piece of cake, and a grown young man with cake on his face trying to stop her from crying, which effectively makes her cry even harder. Such a sad and pathetic scene. What a shame it would be if someone were to walk in.

"What the bloody-?" Anita's voice rang from the doorway. "Wait a second. YOU! YOU STOLE MY BAG!"

Elsie stopped crying. She looked from Kaoru to Anita, and then to the bag. Suddenly, she understood nothing.

"Now, before you freak out about the bag-" Kaoru said as though her were pacifying a rabid… something.

"NO! I _will_ freak out about the bag! You took it while I was busy GETTING CHANGED! WHY THE HECK WOULD YOU THINK THAT THAT'S A BLOODY BRILLIANT IDEA, MR. I'M-GONNA-BE-NICE-_NOW_!" Anita took a shaky breath. "Tell me, before I go and manage to bludgeon you with something- probably a book- why you even came up with that oh-so-brilliant idea!" Anita jabbed a finger into Kaoru's chest, and glared into his eyes, which were somewhat hidden behind the icing.

Elsie wondered how Anita managed to look into those eyes without melting, but eh, to each their own. Suddenly, Elsie had the best idea one could get during a concussion. A smart idea. An intelligent idea. A _conniving_ idea. Oh yes. This was definitely a _good_ idea.

She began to cry a little more. Loud enough so she could be heard, but quiet enough to capture their interest. "A-Anita, don't hurt him! I asked him to get the bag." Elsie grabbed onto Kaoru's waist. "YOU CAN'T JUST KILL HIM!" she sobbed. _Wow, and she seemed to forget that I don't have Kaoru's phone number. Easily remedied, though._

"You did what? And I wasn't going to kill the kid-" Anita glared once more. "-just maybe give him a bruise or two..."

"NO! Anita, PLEASE!" Elsie fake-sobbed, giving Anita impossible-to-refuse sad eyes.

"Okay, okay, just calm down a little. No need to cry, he won't get hurt yet."

"YET?"

"Sorry sorry, he won't get hurt. There. I promise!" Anita raised her hands. "See, not gonna touch him." Anita turned around and walked towards the table with the homework. "But you two need to learn to be more responsible, and to..."

Kaoru looked down at the strange girl clutching his waist. She looked up at him and smirked. _You owe me_, she mouthed. Disturbed, he looked back to Anita.

"...And that is why it would have been much easier to just call me and _tell _me to give Kaoru the bag."

Elsie shrugged. "Blame the concussion. I only just remembered to take the headache meds."

Anita rolled her eyes. "It's not a concussion, you only hit your head, which would logically cause a headache. And I _knew_ I should have written that before I mentioned the rice balls."

"Anita? I'm sorry."

The girl's brown eyes softened. "It's okay, just tell me next time..." Anita looked down at her clothes. "Ugh. How did I get a coffee stain on this? Imma go change- clean up the cake off of his head by the time I get back."

The second the door closed, Elsie grabbed Kaoru's arm and took him outside. Leaving the door only slightly ajar so Anita couldn't hear, she gave Kaoru a coy grin.

"So I just totally saved your butt back there," she sneered. Kaoru rolled his eyes.

"She was obviously bluffing," he retorted. Elsie raised an eyebrow.

"If you call that bluffing, you totally don't know the first thing about Anita- OH WAIT, you _don't_!" Elsie snapped her fingers, looking pleased with herself. "So... you owe me bigtime."

"What do you want?"

Elsie looped his arm around hers and escorted him to the outside of the apartment. "Okay, four things. One, I want you to help me get my Japanese up to Anita's level. Two, I need us to swap phone numbers in case Anita doesn't have her phone and asks me for mine." She took out her phone from the front pocket of her pants and held it out in her hand.

He handed her his phone. "I'm fine with those," Kaoru said, and typed his name and number into her phone. Handing it back, he warily asked, "What else?"

"Three, I want you... to take me to this!" Elsie pulled out a flyer from the back pocket of her shorts. It had been there since yesterday, when a young girl on the streets gave it to her.

"A fair? You want to go to a _fair_? That is so stupid, it's just like a festival. You can go by your-"

"I want you to take me, as a date," Elsie said with a grin. Seeing Kaoru's surprised face, she sighed. "Or you could just take me as a friend without arguing further. And fourthly... I want my cake back."

Without warning, she yanked his shoulders down and kissed his cheek. Tossing the towel over to him, she walked back inside her apartment, and locked the door. Slowly walking over to the kitchen table she gingerly set her head down.

She bit down on a corner of the bag and silently screamed. _Oh my God I can't believe I just did that! Where did that come from? Holy craaaaap my heart is beating so fast SWEET JESUS I KISSED HIM! WHAT MUST HE BE THINKING RIGHT NOW, OH MY GOSH._

Her phone buzzed, and she composed herself a bit to look at the message.

_I'll pick you up at around 6:30 on Friday._

Her heart almost stopped. The dizziness from the headache and the wooziness from the kiss were enough to send her reeling. She gripped the table, and stood up, running over to the couch. She licked the frosting off of her lips before grabbing a pillow and screaming in it.

Anita ran into the room, finally changed. "What in the world was that?"

Elsie looked up from her pillow, staring at Anita with wide teary eyes. "I ummm..." Elsie buried her head in the pillow and mumbled the rest of her sentence.

Anita raised an eyebrow. "Well, I can't hear you if you say it into the pillow like that!"

Elsie lifted her head up from the pillow. "Iwastalkingabouthimowingmeandthenthingsescalateda ndandandthenIkissedKaoru."

"Um, okay..." She took a second to decipher her friend's stream of words. She only managed to figure out the very end. "Wait- you kissed him?" Anita's jaw dropped in shock.

"Yes?" Elsie said, her face turning pink. "What am I gonna do?"

"What did he _say_," asked Anita, sitting down across from Elsie on the couch. Elsie sighed, opened her mouth, then closed it. At loss for words, she handed Anita the phone. "So... You kiss a guy you've only known for a day, and then... You get asked on a date?!" Anita elbowed her friend in the ribs lightly. "Whoa. Dream come true for Miss Otaku."

"I... I'm really tired. I think this is enough excitement for the day..." yawned Elsie. The redhead curled up on the couch, and drifted off to a dreamland with a gold-eyed boy.

**Please add a comment- they mean a lot to us!  
~Cler & Star**


	4. Chapter 4

**Here you go, a lovely chapter about Anita. And no worries, we're getting to Anita's story. Elsie is just so much more fun! (shhhh, don't tell Anita we said so!)**

**Chapter** **3- Anita**

Anita's arm went off, and she rolled out of bed. She did _not_ want to go to school today. The brunette sighed- she was up late doing her homework and Elsie's. She figured that the redhead needed a break after the previous day's… drama.

Elsie opened the door to Anita's room as the brunette was changing into her uniform. "What the heck, Elsie!?" Anita quickly pulled the yellow dress over her head. Sure, they were both girls, but it's nice when you have _some_ respect of privacy.

"Come on! It's time for school!" Elsie said uncharacteristically.

"So I wasn't dreaming."

Elsie shot her a glare. A happy glare, but still a glare.

Anita cooked her bento as well as Elsie's and after packing up the food, the two headed off to school. They met the twins out of the front gate. Elsie passed Kaoru awkwardly, and started chatting with Hikaru.

Noticing Kaoru's confused face, Anita talked to him. "Hey Kaoru."

"You can differentiate us?"

"Come on. There's a slight height difference, and your voices are different."

"Good to know..." Kaoru said, watching Elsie.

Anita suppressed a laugh. "Ya know, she feels weird about yesterday."

"She's acting as though nothing happened."

"That was the first time she kissed a guy," Anita said. "Give her some time."

"Really?" Kaoru said with some surprise. He shook his head. "I'm sorry about yesterday..."

Anita waved her hand dismissively. "It's my fault for freaking out." She held her hand out for a handshake. "Truce?"

Kaoru took her hand. "Truce. Friends?"

Anita smiled sincerely. "Yup, friends sounds nice. Besides, you'll need my help with Elsie." It was the perfect beginning of a friendship. "Oh yeah, how's Hikaru doing? You didn't call, and I was so angry that I didn't ask..."

Kaoru shook his head. "Nope. He's normal... or rather his normal self. Do you want to be a doctor?"

Anita looked down at the ground. "I don't know. It's a lot of work." She slipped into a slight British accent as she switched to English. "And there are loads of people who would be better at it than me..." She spoke in Japanese once more. "Sorry 'bout the language switching."

Kaoru rolled his eyes. "It's okay. You were able to determine that my twin and Elsie didn't have concussions. I'd say that's pretty good. Plus, if you want to learn a thing or two, we could always help you some of the guys' fathers are in the medical field."

Anita smiled. "Ya know… I just _might_ take you up on that offer."

The two chatted on their way to class, and found that they had a rather lot in common, especially the fact that their best friend- or brother, in Kaoru's case- was a lot of trouble to deal with. They made it to class before the bell rang.

Elsie and Hikaru were nowhere to be found.

Kaoru appeared to be having the start of a panic attack. "Wh-where-"

"Relax," Anita said, keeping a level head even though she was having the same internal freak out.

They both breathed a sigh of relief when Elsie and Hikaru appeared as the bell rang. Anita took note of their mischievous grins. "What did the two of you-"

There was a high-pitched shriek in the hallway. "C-cockroaches!"

A massive wave of girls in yellow dresses and guys in blue suits burst from the classroom.

"You didn't," Anita muttered.

"Oh contraire," Hikaru said, grinning even more. "We did."

"Elsie..." Anita was exasperated. "What about the scholarship?"

"What about it?" The redhead was so woefully oblivious that Anita nearly hit herself on the nearby desks.

"You. Could. Make. Me. Lose. It." _I know the teachers didn't put the detention on my permanent record because Elsie complained to them that it wasn't fair… But if I get any for real, God knows what will happen…._

"You're on scholarship?" came the simultaneous question from the twins.

"What's it to you?" Anita said coldly, knowing of the haughty reputations of the upper class, due to events in her past. "You would know that, seeing as you found our apartment." The twins shook their heads. They had wistful expressions on their faces. "Sorry," Anita apologized. "Who was it?" she asked perspicaciously.

"Haruhi," Hikaru said.

"Spring Fire?" asked Elsie, confused. "Haru. Hi?"

"It's her name. Fujioka Haruhi." Hikaru continued.

"Ohhhhhh. Sorry."

"Anyway, she taught us the ways of you co... nevermind." Hikaru smirked.

"Did you almost say 'commoners'?" Elsie asked incredulously. Kaoru looked down in shame, while Hikaru's jaw dropped. "Um, I'll take that as a yes, you plebes. Let me say that I'm far from a commoner."

"Elsie," Anita spoke up. "Do you even _know_ what that means?"

"Nope!" said Elsie. "Wait, should I?"

The brunette sighed. "Plebe. Plebeian. We went over this in English last year. And in World History. Roman History. Do you have any idea what I'm talking about?" Anita continued when Elsie's blank look didn't change. "It means, quite literally 'commoners'."

A small laugh came from Kaoru. "Wait- Elsie. You didn't even know?"

"I thought that was obvious, plebe. Yup, I'm still gonna use that."

There was a unanimous sigh from the twins, which was cut off by the second bell ringing. Classes started, despite the cockroach infestation in the hallway, and were boring as usual.

At the end of class, Anita looked up from her hasty note taking in English, and found that Elsie was asleep, Kaoru was packing up, and Hikaru was not-so-subtly staring at her. Rolling her eyes, Anita returned her gaze to her notebook, and finished up her last sentence. The spiral-bound book was then closed, and then placed into the omnipresent bag that Anita had.

"Wake up, sleepyhead," Anita said in a sing-song voice while standing up.

"Five more minutes..." Elsie mumbled, burying her head further in her arms.

"Well, I guess I won't be going with you to the host club then."

That woke her up.

"Whaaaaaaaaaa?" Elsie sat up so quickly, she fell out of the chair, and Nita had to avoid laughing at her face. Paper had stuck to her cheek where some drool had dribbled out.

"The Host Club, didn't you want to go?"

"Didn't you _not _want to go?" retorted Elsie. She got up anyway, and walked towards the door in a sleepy daze.

Anita tsked. "Well, seeing as class was silent, I kind of have to apologize for being so mean to Hikaru, and _you_ need to apologize for sending him home."

Elsie frowned. She had hoped that Anita had a change of heart, and wanted to go there to talk to the cute boys.

Either way...

In a matter of minutes, their bags were packed, and they were heading to music room 3.

Anita told Elsie to wait a couple minutes and stopped in the bathroom to change out of her school uniform once more. She returned in knee-high combat boots, a black ripped tank over a three-quarter sleeve black shirt, and black skinny jeans. When she returned, Elsie was gone.

Probably to meet up with Kaoru... or sneak into the Host Club.

_Definitely the latter._ Anita thought and went off to find her best friend. It took her two minutes to get into the the music room. After all, who's to say that she can walk faster in boots than in the heels that accompany their school uniform. Oh yeah, that's right. Nobody.

She opened the doors to the music room to see an overwhelmed Elsie sitting on a couch, smooshed between a set of twins. The image made Anita giggle, and unfortunately for her, the attention of the boys shifted to her. The short brunette girl was dragged to the same couch and given the same treatment as Elsie.

There was a picture on the wall, and it was clear to Anita that the exclusive club had lost most of their members recently- in addition to the twins, there was a tall blonde, a brunette with a face that looked suspiciously like a girl's, a guy with glasses, and a short blonde sitting on top of a taller boy's shoulders. They all looked happy. Meanwhile, the twins currently looked on the verge of tears.

"Hey... the brunette guy looks really cute," said Elsie, "I wonder how he got his skin so smooth, like wow. You know he almost... kind of... looks like a... This club is an all boys club, right?"

"Yeah...?" asked the twins raising their eyebrows. "What of it?"

"I... what... who is the brunette?"

"Haruhi Fujioka, she went to the United States to study law two years ago. It seems her surprisingly amazing rookie powers still work," said Hikaru.

"Wait-"

"I said 'his', what are you mumbling about?" snapped Hikaru. Elsie gave him a confused look, then, after thinking for a moment, seemed to accept this and remained quiet.

"WAAAIT A SECOND!" Anita said, jumping into the conversation. "Haruhi... You mean the... other scholarship student? That was a girl. Are you intentionally messing with my mind?" She crossed her arms and frowned at Hikaru. There was something that made her distrust this young man in front of her.

"Well, Anita, he clearly just told us Haruhi was a boy! A very cute one. A very, very cute one," said Elsie, crossing her arms as well.

"Yes he was extremely cute and popular," said Kaoru, glaring at Hikaru.

"Whoa, was he more popular than you guys?" Elsie asked innocently.

"Obviously not, who can be more popular than us?" they both asked, whacking Elsie with pillows. "The very thought!"

A scoff escaped Anita's mouth. She had managed to escape to the far side of the room, and was standing in a corner. Somehow that made the twins' expressions soften. "I _definitely _believe that story. Elsie. Haruhi isn't typically a guy's name... and if you look at that picture... Well, if you weren't boy-crazed... You'd be able to realize that the two on either side of you are lying. And I thought I wanted you to apologize to Hikaru-_san_." Anita added the traditional suffix with a very negative connotation.

"Hey, respect people's life choices. I noticed Haruhi was physically female, but you know, maybe she wanted to be a boy, so she is a boy-"

"No, she's a girl, Anita caught us, ten points to Anita and minus 40 for Elsie!" sang the twins.

"HEY! How come I got more subtracted than what Anita gained?" huffed Elsie.

"Well, we were gonna take away 50, but your small speech was somewhat moving, if not somewhat... eh. Actually it was very eh. Minus ten points. Make that 20. You lost a total of 60 points for assuming stuff about people." Hikaru explained.

"Well, minus fifty-seven fazillion for you," Elsie said, inventing a number.

The twins spoke simultaneously. "Too late, you lost so many points it takes away your privilege to remove points. Our points remain intact, and you lose another 100 points for attempting such a heinous crime."

"Well then," Anita's voice was detached and tired. "Negative infinity minus one points for Kaoru and Hikaru-_san_, negative infinity minus one hundred fifty-eight points for Elsie. And if you'll excuse me, I have homework to do." There was a faint pink tinge on her face, but it was unnoticed by any of the three before she turned on her heel and left the room.

"WAAAAAIT!" called out Elsie, scrambling off of the couch and hugging Anita. "You forgot to give me my lunch! I need my lunch, I can't go on in life without it! And my binoculuthingies the thingies they use in the theater, I need those too! And mmph-" Whatever else Elsie was going to say, it was gone now. Anita had quickly shoved the second bag she had into Elsie's face, effectively shutting her up.

"I had nothing to do with this if the teachers catch you watching the swim team from the rooftop."

"Well, they didn't catch me watching them, just being on the rooftop was enough, but I'm going to the very top of the tower this time, so I'll be fine!"

"You're so lucky you're not on scholarship. You don't have to worry about this..." The school bell tolled once. "It's one. Shit. I'm late for my part-ti-" She glanced at Elsie who was smirking at the fact that Anita had cursed aloud while being more-or-less conscious of her words. "Oh shut it. You're the terrible influence. Bye!"

**A/N:** **Sorry for the late update... Please review and stuffs :)  
Thanks, Cler & Star**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello people of the world! Here's another chapter! Oh yeah, we don't own anything that's from OHSHC.**

**Chapter 4- Anita**

Anita was almost late on her first day of work, thanks to certain distracting twins. She still had five minutes before her shift started, but she had to change into her work uniform, something she would not be caught dead in anywhere else. Her uniform was a black satiny dress with a wide red ribbon that wrapped around the middle and tied in the back as a large bow. The other employees only had to wear knee-length black skirts and a red or white collared shirt. Even the girls didn't have to wear heels, just flats. For a moment, Anita wished that she had just asked for a waitressing position, but then remembered that she was determined to be self-sufficient _and _pay back the Nagamis.

While in the bathroom, Anita pulled her hair out of its normal ponytail. Loose curls cascaded around her shoulders, and she switched out her contacts for a pair of elegant black glasses. The makeup she wore evened her skin tone to the point where she was just tanned, no freckles, and it actually made her look paler in the light of the shop. It was as though she were an entirely different person.

"Anita!" the manager called. "Your shift is in two minutes!"

She walked out of the bathroom, and stowed her clothes behind the piano. She approached the manager and asked quietly, "Can you introduce me as Tiana? I just don't feel comfortable with all the customers knowing my name during these first couple weeks."

"Of course. Just the one name?" The manager, a young woman in her twenties, asked.

Anita nodded. "I'd feel bad fully lying to everyone. Besides, Tiana has the same letters as my given name."

"You're a kind girl, _Tiana_." The manager winked.

"Thank you very much," Anita said with a smile.

The remaining time passed by more quickly than Anita would have expected. There were only two people who held the position: Anita, and an older girl named Ayane. Of course all the customers addressed her by her last name: Yuki. Ayane, or Yuki, was a kind-hearted girl from a nearby university. She was actually the one who had interviewed Anita through several emails and many attached videos. Ayane was surprised that she had found such a "talented musician from America" to play at the cafe.

Ayane finished up her acoustic guitar solo, and curtsied for the audience. She was met with a round of applause. She cleaned up her belonging quickly and left the stage.

"You'll do great, Ani-chan," Ayane said as she passed.

"Thanks," Anita responded. She walked onto the stage and sat down at the small upright piano. The manager announced her using the karaoke machine. There was a thin layer of dust covering the keys, and she quietly blew it away. She placed her hands on the keys, and took a deep breath. The aroma of teas and pastries filled her up with warm feelings, and she pressed down on the keys as she began to play the first song in her repertoire.

It started off slow, almost snail-like in tempo, then it began to pick up. The song was full of hope and high spirits while still being peaceful and soothing. She lost herself in the music, feeling every fluctuation of the rhythm and the volume. The variation of the normally six-minute song actually took twelve, but when Anita finished, she was met with a large applause.

She smiled and launched into her next song.

The first hour was slow, but she soon lost track of the time. Anita was supposed to get breaks every half-an-hour to an hour, but since she hadn't sung yet, she decided not to.

"Hey, Miss- um, what's your name?" A quiet voice came from her right side.

Anita froze, and slowly turned around. Next to her on the stage there was a familiar other half of a pair. Hikaru. Realizing that she had yet to respond, she spoke in slow book-basic Japanese and in a slightly higher-pitched voice than normal. "My name is Tiana. Did you have a request?"

"Yeah... Do you know how to play the song that goes-" he hummed the chorus of one of the songs she was planning to play. "-like that?"

A small smile appeared on Anita's face. "Yes I do, I'll play it next, if you would like."

"You are amazing!" He reached to scoop Anita up in a hug, and Anita flinched. "What? Don't like hugs?"

_More like don't like _you_. Seriously, I'm glad you didn't notice who I am..._ "Yeah, not big on hugs," Anita said in English with a high-pitched tone with a slight New Jersey accent, and then repeated herself in halting Japanese- Tiana wasn't supposed to know Hikaru understood English. "I need to get back to playing, sorry."

She played the intro on the piano, a legato piece. During the first couple lines of the song, her voice is harsh. But her hesitation became confidence, and her voice grew louder. The whole song was captivating, and a couple people came into the cafe to listen to Anita's- rather, Tiana's- singing. She messed up once, but continued as if nothing had happened.

Once she finished, she was met with more applause than before, about the same as for Ayane. She blushed, and smiled at the crowd. "Thanks."

The rest of her shift passed quickly, and the customers kept requesting songs, most of which she had prepared ahead of time.

When Anita finally remembered to take a break, she sat down at a small table in the corner of the room. She drank a cup of black tea and looked at the others around her. A few customers were from Ouran Academy, while most were wearing uniforms from a nearby high school.

She was lost in thought when a familiar face sat across from her at the table. "Ah," Anita said in English as she flipped her hair over her shoulder. "The boy from earlier. You're still here?" She then smiled apologetically and began to repeat herself in stuttering Japanese.

Less than three words in, Hikaru responded, "I speak English too. Might be a bit easier for you- Japanese is clearly not your best language."

_If only you knew how wrong you are- it's my second best. _Anita smiled. "Thanks," she said, switching back to English. "It's nice to find someone else who speaks it. The only other people I've met..." her voice trailed off as she thought about Elsie and Kaoru, "I doubt they'd be caught dead in here..."

Hikaru smiled genuinely- not a hint of mischief or evil- and said, "Well, now you have someone to talk to. Hitachiin Hikaru, at your service." He attempted a bow at the table, and it only resulted in Anita's tea being spilt on the ground.

Anita grinned, "Honestly, it's no problem. I have to clean up worse messes caused by my roommate." She grabbed a napkin from a nearby table and sopped up the tea. "See?"

Hikaru just nodded. "Where do you go to school?"

"Interesting question. A school nearby, I forget the name... I've only been here for a little over a week, so it's slightly overwhelming."

"You must have visited Japan before... Your Japanese had a slight kansai accent, even if you didn't notice."

_Crud. _"I did, when I was little," Anita admitted the truth. "Mom and Dad always had business trips to Japan. I haven't been here since I was young." _Since I was what, eight?_

He must have seen something in her face- a hint of nostalgia or perhaps the tears that she refused to let fall in front of him, and spoke again. "Hey, aren't you supposed to go back on stage soon?"

Anita nodded. "Yeah, I guess my ten-minute break is up. See you around, Hikaru-san." This time her voice held no malice, and she waved as she walked away.

Sitting back down at the piano, Anita could feel Hikaru's eyes on her. _Great, I try to be nice so that he'll leave me alone, but nooo, he's now interested in me or something. Just great. And I blurted out that I've been to Japan when I was little. If he's anything like I think, he'll try to dig into my past and he'll also try to figure out who _Tiana_ is. I cannot believe I let myself slip like that..._

Anita took a deep breath and placed her hands on the piano. This time, she was playing a song that she had composed on her own. A song based on longing for more pleasant times. It was actually in Italian, the language her grandmother spoke, and Anita was thankful that Hikaru didn't seem to understand the song.

Once she finished, a lone tear cascaded down her cheek as she remembered her grandmother who had passed away less than a year before. There was a mirror on the piano so that the audience could see the pianist's face, and Anita noticed her reflection. There was a streak down the side of her face that allowed a few freckles to appear. As a momentary solution, Anita moved some of her hair to the front of her shoulder. It fell on the side of her face, effectively covering the lack of makeup.

Anita was able to play for another couple hours and only left the piano once her shift had ended. Almost all of the customers were gone, save a certain twin and some regulars who, according to the manager, always came in at the very end of the day.

Excusing herself to the employee bathroom, Anita washed her face of the remaining makeup, and put her hair back up into a ponytail. She then changed into her street clothes, and stowed her heels and dress in the drawstring bag she brought with her. Anita snuck out through the back door, passing the manager who was smoking a cigarette.

The apartment was only about a half-hour away by foot, and Anita decided she needed the air. The sky was clear, and starry.

By the time Anita reached home, she was tired, exhausted, and totally confused as to why she had decided to change her entire personality for one job. She collapsed onto her bed, and promptly fell asleep, not even realizing that Elsie was not home and that there was no dinner prepared.

**A/N Hooooray! Another chapter up! And here's an early warning about updates: they might slow down a bit because school's starting up again soon. Woohoo. NOT. Also, Chapter 5 might be a day late because the internet's on the fritz- sorry XP**

**Thanks for reading! Please Review!  
Cler & Star**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello there, dearest reader/s! This is background information because I um, sort of lost the file that I was supposed to post- sorry! This here is background information about Anita so that I don't have to fully explain it later. **

Back in America, a lazy dream stirred up old memories. Anita never was one to dwell on the past, but at times when all her defenses were down and faded, good times would surface.

* * *

A six-year-old Anita stood at the base of the Tokyo tower. Her father had a meeting with some sort of business associate, and the rest of her family had come as well.

"So cool!" Anita exclaimed, and her voice echoed up the tower. A few of the passersby stared at the girl, and Anita hid behind her older brother.

"What, 'Nita? I thought you were excited…. Right?"

"But, Nicoo!" Anita was clinging to the tall ten-year-old's pants. "They were staring! Staring's ruuude. That's what Mum says!"

The blond boy picked up the six-year-old and had her cling onto his back. "Come on, Dad and Mum are waiting for us." They made their way up the tower- rather, Nico did while Anita cowered into the back of his shirt.

"Nico, Anita! We're over here!" Mrs. Legna's voice was clear across the din of the Tokyo tower. The blonde British-American woman corralled her children over by the observation deck. An old family friend, Mika, took a picture of the family as soon as Anita stood up. Her mother and father were hugging. She then launched herself into them, making it a group hug. Mr. Legna put Anita on his shoulders.

"Look, Ani, you can see the whole city! You can even see Mika-san's ramen shop!" The brown-haired man pointed to a small building in the distance- the house where they were currently staying.

Anita's brown eyes were wide as she took in the scenery. "Amazing!" she shouted, her voice carrying once again.

"I know! Mommy drags me here all the time!" Anita looked down to see a redheaded girl speaking.

Mr. Legna took Anita off of his shoulders, and put her down near the other girl. "Anita, this is Elsie Nagami. Her dad is my business partner. Say hi."

"H-hi, Elsie."

The half-Japanese girl grinned. "Hey, Anita… I'm going to call you 'Nita! It sounds pretty!"

Anita was surprised at Elsie's straightforwardness. "I like the name Elsie. It's pretty. Like your hair. It looks like fire."

Elsie put her face close to Anita's. "Lucky! You have freckles. That's cute!" Anita ended up blushing, and Elsie hugged Anita. "Wanna be my friend?"

"S-sure?"

That one hesitant response was the beginning of their endless friendship.

* * *

The sleeping girl grinned and rolled over in her bed. "Can't believe we've been friends for ten years…" she murmured before another dream swept through her trance-like state. Her hand almost dipped into a glass of water on the ground. Thank goodness it didn't- otherwise Elsie would never let her hear the end of it. Anita's redheaded friend had a knack for mischief that was beyond help; she doubted that Elsie would ever stop trying to prank her, especially when Anita slept over at the Nagami's mansion.

* * *

This dream was less of a dream. More of a nightmare. The downside to having her defenses down was that after the good dreams would come the bad ones.

An eight-year-old Anita was coming back from her first paid performance. She had been the opening act before her mother. The brunette had played Amazing Grace and another classical piece- a Rachmaninoff. Her mother was still performing, but it was already past nine, and the girl had school the following day.

Nico was twelve, so he was allowed to stay with Mrs. Legna at the concert hall until the show ended at eleven. It was a brisk October evening, and there was rain staring to fall.

Anita started humming until lyrics started pouring out of her mouth. "I'm singing in the rain… Just singing in the rain….What a glorious feeling….I'm happy again…"

Mr. Legna laughed. "I'd hope that you're always happy. I know you love singing and playing your piano."

"I want to sing forever! Like mum!" Anita exclaimed, grinning. "And you'll come to all my concerts! And Nico will be there in the back waiting to give me a hug! And and and Elsie will come and watch me. Mrs. Nagami will make all my pretty dresses. And everything will be awesome!"

"Never stop singing, if that's what you love, okay, Ani?" He was watching the road again, and there was light heading straight for the car.

Anita didn't notice it- she was sitting in a booster seat in the back of the car. "Of course, daddy. I'll never stop singing."

She opened her mouth to start her singing again. "Somewhere over the rai-"

There was a screech of tires and the smell of leaking oil.

Crash. The driver's side windows shattered. Airbags deployed. Glass went inward as the car that had come barreling towards them went halfway through the side of the car.

A flash of light. Fire. The smell of smoke hung in the air, choking the young singer and her father.

"Daddy! Daddy!" Anita undid her seatbelt and crawled to the front of the vehicle. She shook her father, grabbing at his shirt. "Wake up! There's a fire!" Tears pricked at the corners of her big brown eyes. "Dad, stay awake! We need to get out of the car!"

The brown-haired man lifted his head groggily off of the steering wheel. "Anita? Thank God you're okay." He took off his seatbelt and opened the door. He picked up the eight-year-old who still was the size a six-year-old was supposed to be and carried her out of the now burning car. Mr. Legna sat her down at the edge of the road. "Stay here, Ani…" and he ran back into the inferno that was the accident.

"Dad! Daddy! Dad!" Tears were streaming down her face, but she didn't dare disobey her father. "Daddy, don't go…" She had an ominous feeling.

After what seemed like hours, Mr. Legna appeared out of the blazing pickup truck that had crashed into their small car. He was carrying a man over his shoulder. He placed the unconscious man on the grass and sat down next to Anita with a grunt.

"Thank goodness, we're safe. We're safe." He held Anita close, and then turned away from the car as it exploded in a huge white and orange fireball.

Glass and metal flew like shrapnel at the three people on the side of the road.

A chunk of metal flew and hit Mr. Legna in the back of the head. He slumped unconscious to the ground, still holding his precious daughter close.

Anita cried. Bawled, more like.

* * *

"'Nita. 'Nita, wake up." Sixteen-year-old Anita woke up with a start. Elsie was hovering over her. "You scared the shit out of me. You were screaming…" There was concern in her best friend's eyes.

"I'm okay," Anita said, frowning. "It was just a nightmare."

"Your dad, huh?"

Anita nodded. "I just keep reliving it. Every single time it's a nightmare, it's _this _one. Couldn't I have a nightmare where I'm chased by vampires or zombies or werewolves for once? No, instead I'm stuck with the memory of what happened to put Dad in a coma."

"Well, at least we can stay up for the rest of the night and do sleepover-y things." Elsie grinned, trying to cheer up her recovering friend- a task she tended to be good at. "I can finally teach you how to use makeup!"

Anita laughed. "And why would I need to know that? It's not like I have plans to date anyone."

Elsie made a tsk-ing sound. "Nita, 'Nita, 'Nita. When will you learn that you're gonna find love, and it's going to splash you like a cold bucket of water in your face?"

"How 'bout when it _actually_ happens?" Anita snorted, tying up her shoulder-length hair into a ponytail. "What, do you expect me to focus on boys when I'm in Japan?"

"YOU MADE THE SCHOLARSHIP AND DIDN'T TELL ME?!" Elsie was appalled at the thought.

"Um, yeah? I could've sworn I told you. It was when you were picking out new manga from the bookstore."

"Don't you know not to tell me anything important when I'm doing that. I can't hear you!" the redhead huffed and crossed her arms.

_Uh-oh,_ thought Anita. _Here comes the rant._

"Well, that's good, because mom was insisting that I… what was it again? 'See the wonders of the world.' Now we can both go to school in Japan! I'll have her sign me up at Ouran as well!"

_Hm, not as much of a rant as I thought… _Anita sighed. "Well, at least I know I'll have a place to stay, right? And I have a best friend who I can talk to…" _And probably will have to take care of as well…_

**A/N: Well, this was interesting to write. This is proof that they've been friends for so long and maybe clarifies a bit from the last couple chapters. It'll also shed light on a few upcoming ones as well *wink wink*. Also, updates will not be as regular anymore- sorry, but school's starting up again :( oh yeah- We don't own Singing in The Rain or Somewhere Over the Rainbow.  
**REVIEW, PLEASE!**  
Thanks  
Cler & Star**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 5- Elsie**

Elsie arrived at the apartment after managing to escape the twins. Apparently they were "so lonely without everyone" that they felt the need to cling onto her dress. Inspecting her precious uniform, Elsie noticed a small tear at the waist. She changed into a pale blue casual dress- one of her favorites.

She sighed and grabbed a needle and thread from her room. Sure, the color was slightly off, but it was better than the rip getting any bigger. The end result was a dress that looked as though there was never even a rip, and no pricked fingers. Elsie was proud of herself, to say the least. She turned on some music on the radio. It was an upbeat song that she'd heard before, and she was dancing along to the music.

Ding-dong.

"Just a minute!" Elsie shut off the radio- _Not even one song? Seriously?_- and opened the door. She was met by a familiar boy with golden eyes. "K-Kaoru?" she exclaimed in surprise. "What are you doing here? Not that I'm unhappy, but..."

"You said you wanted to go to the fair, right?"

"Yes?" Elsie's voice was a squeak.

"It closes tomorrow, and seeing as there's a field trip to Tokyo tomorrow, the only viable option is today." Kaoru's voice was calm and logical. Elsie stuck her head out of the door and looked around.

"Where's Hikaru?"

"Well... Apparently there's a new girl musician at his favorite cafe. So he planned to see if he'd finally get to meet her." Kaoru shrugged. "Plus it would be bad if the two of you pulled a prank at the fair."

"What pranks? I'm _innocent!_" replied Elsie without missing a beat. There was a pleasant silence where awkwardness would be abundant, considering the fact that she still hadn't invited him in.

Kaoru smiled. "Of course. Now do you want to go? It's about twenty minutes away by foot."

"Yeah- just let me get my things..." Elsie walked into the apartment and then realized that Kaoru was still standing at the door. "You can come in, you know." Elsie quickly ran around the apartment picking up things from here and there, while Kaoru looked around.

"Where's Anita?" He wondered, and then answered his own question. "She has a job, right?"

"Yup, she's over there right now. Some fancy pants cafe. She's always working so hard, I wish she'd just be a little more chill. Like me."

"Riiiiight..." Kaoru deadpanned, and something clicked in his head. "I guess you could call it that."

"What? The cafe is all fancy. It deserves some fancy pants... If they made pants for buildings..." Elsie picked up an over-the-shoulder bag and dropped her collection of knick-knacks. _Anita won't mind at all that I'm borrowing this. Nope, not at all. After all, it's _just_ borrowing. It'll be back before she knows it._ "Ready!"

"You should really stop thinking out loud." Elsie quickly shoved him out of the apartment and locked the door behind her, adding the key to the items in Anita's bag. "So, what do you want to do first? When we get to the fair I mean."

"I want to do the typical boy meets girl anime date scenario and-"

"Otaku. I knew you were weird, but really? Come on Elsie, Hikaru would be making so many jokes about you right now!" he managed to get out between laughter.

"What's so wrong about that? It's a beautiful art form! Let's just go, we'll know what to do when we get there," mumbled Elsie.

They managed to get to the fair after a few minutes, and Elsie's jaw literally dropped at the amount of people. There were carnival rides, and stands from a stereotypical festival.

Kaoru smiled. "Not a bad idea, coming to the festival- I mean fair. Oh, you might want to close your mouth before a fly gets in there."

Elsie clamped her mouth shut, and- what was this?- she was blushing. She just stared at the rides blankly. _It's even better than I expected!_

Kaoru started walking towards the crowd of people, and he gestured for Elsie to follow. They weaved in and out of the crowd, and Elsie grabbed Kaoru's hand so that 'she wouldn't get lost'. Of course, Kaoru rolled his eyes at the comment. But his face had a light pink hue that could have easily been from the nearby red paper lanterns. Yup, definitely from those paper lanterns.

"OOOOH! THERE'S A FERRIS WHEEL!" Elsie yanked on his arm, pointing like an excited elementary schoolkid. "Come on, pwease?" She gave him her signature puppy-dog face for good measure.

Kaoru sighed halfheartedly. "Okay, we can go."

"You make it sound _so_ terrible," pouted Elsie, but then she started running towards the line.

The gold-eyed boy blinked a few times before realizing she had left. "What have I gotten myself into?" he mumbled, but it was lost in the crowd.

The two waited on line for a little less than fifteen minutes. And, as Elsie had not-so-evilly plotted, they were given a seat to share. The ride started moving with a jolt, and she let out an 'eep' of surprise. She also took the opportunity to scoot a bit closer to Kaoru.

By the time the ferris wheel had brought them almost to the top, Elsie was leaning out of the window, pointing out places like a little kid.

"Look, Kaoru! The people! They're so tiny! Like… like ants!" She giggled, and closed one eye. She pretended to squish them between her fingers, and her laughter became louder.

Kaoru watched the redhead in amusement. The girl was so lighthearted and silly. Not exactly childish, but she had her moments. He shook his head quickly and smiled. "So what, do you squish people often? You're taller than a lot of people here…"

Elsie frowned. "Well, thanks for that. But yes, I guess? My mom and dad used to drag me up to the Tokyo tower every other summer. I mean it's fun, but a similar view every other year gets preeeeeeety boring."

Kaoru's eyes widened. "So you've been to Tokyo before?"

"Yeah. But most of the time I'd spend visiting- visiting my grandparents in Osaka."

"Interesting," Kaoru said, although he sounded entirely disinterested.

"I could swear I've met you when I was little. Although that's doubtful-" the ride screeched to a halt and she nearly fell over.

The person in charge of the ride ushered the 'not' couple off the ride and Elsie sighed. So much for staying there for a while…

Her stomach rumbled. It wasn't loud, but of course Kaoru heard it. He blinked a couple times.

"So do you want food?"

"Food sounds nice," admitted Elsie as her stomach growled again. "I see a ramen stall… Right there!"

"Or there's takoyaki and onigiri stalls," Kaoru commented.

"Oooh, sounds good. But I had those when I got home- the only food I can make..."

"So ramen it is."

The two walked to the ramen stall. Okay, fine. Elsie ran through the crowd to the ramen stall, dragging Kaoru behind her.

When they arrived and took a seat, Kaoru laid his forehead on the table. "Never do that again." His wrist had a mark from where Elsie was holding him.

Elsie just laughed. _This doesn't seem much like a date, _she thought. _More like just hanging out as friends. _

They placed their orders and sat awkwardly, like a couple on their first date for a matter of minutes.

"So-" they both began.

A pause.

"You first," they both said.

Elsie rolled her eyes. "Seriously?"

Kaoru smirked and then started laughing, only to be followed by Elsie's laughter. They managed to stop laughing by the time the stall owner had placed their food in front of the not-so-coupley-couple.

Elsie was the first to speak. "What were you going to say?"

"I was wondering why you were all offended when we almost said commoner. We being Hikaru."

"I _am_ rich," Elsie huffed. "I just hate being the snooty stuck up brat that everyone thinks I am. Trust me- you think rich people are bullies? Other than Anita, all my 'friends' wanted my family's money. And I could have stayed in a mansion or something, but _dearest_ mother insisted that I see the world from a different perspective." She shook her head. "Sometimes I wonder where her head is… but anyway, I hate when people make fun of others. It sucks. They don't give a damn about others, while those who do are left with that pre-judgy-ness.

"Plus I hate when people think money is everything. I know it's helpful…." Elsie opened her hand, which she had unwittingly clenched into a fist. "Sorry for snapping like that, and going all philosophical. That's usually Anita's job. I'm supposed to be the somewhat airheaded rich girl who's trying her best." She rubbed her palm which had four crescent-shaped marks from her fingernails.

"It's okay, and Hikaru and I don't judge. After Haruhi, how could we?"

Elsie raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"She showed us that there's a bit more to life than just money and corporations. Or at least, that's what I think she was trying to teach us… if she was trying to teach us anything at all." Kaoru shrugged. "Who even knows any more."

"I'm guessing she's the one that Hikaru liked," Elsie said with a frown.

"Yeah… Why are you scowling…?"

Elsie bit back a comment about imagining Hikaru and Anita together. "Nothing. Never mind, just a hunch. So, what _is_ the Host Club?"

"A club."

Elsie gave a face that spelled 'no duh'.

"Where we um, I suppose, we flirt to entertain the girls…?"

_Interesting, _Elsie thought while eating her food. _Wait, why do I feel this tightness in my chest…? Is it jealousy? Nah, can't be. It almost feels like... when I ate 4 big macs on a dare. Oh no my arteries! Shit! Oh wait, he's still talking._

Kaoru continued, "And we had- have… had parties." There was a slight strain in his voice. "Anyway, why are you so interested?"

Elsie blinked a few times and attempted to swallow while breathing in, and began to choke on her ramen. She frantically waved her arms around before coughing and then properly swallowing her food. "Just wondering why you would be wearing cosplay. No other reason, really." Okay, fine, that last part was a lie, and the first part was a half-truth.

The 'couple' finished their food in silence. Elsie kept finding herself looking at Kaoru and then looking away whenever she thought he almost noticed. Little did she realize, Kaoru _did_ notice. And his face was turning redder by the second.

He paid for the ramen, and then dragged Elsie out of the shop. "Come on, didn't you want to see the fair?"

"Yeah, I did…" Her heart began to beat faster again, and she silently hoped that he couldn't feel her pulse.

"There's a bunch of games, if you think you can beat me," Kaoru boasted.

"I can!" Elsie cried out, and began running towards a ring-toss game. Elsie lost- and it pissed her off- but she complained to the teenage guy that was running the stand for a minute, and she ended up with a prize.

"Just because you got a… what is that?"

"Totoro! Sheesh, you _live _in Japan and you don't know that?" The redhead clamped her hands over her mouth in disbelief. "Where was your childhood?"

"Well I know how to run a business, design clothes, oh, and how to speak Japanese _and_ English."

_Ouch, low blow there._ "And that's why you get to tutor me in Japanese!" Elsie exclaimed, changing the topic. "Ooooooh! There's one of those fish games! I want to play! Pleeeeeeeeease?"

Without waiting for an answer, Elsie darted over to the game and played a round. Three chances, the lady said. And this time, Elsie won on the first try. Her prize- a red and white spotted koi fish. Sure, it was small and in a bag of water that could fit in the palm of her hand, but a happy smile appeared on her face. Kaoru arrived through the mob of people to find Elsie staring at the fish.

The sun had begun to dip below the horizon, and the lights were flickering on one by one.

"So you did win. I'm surprised," he teased.

"Hey, Kaoru?"

"Yeah?"

"I just remembered. The apartment complex has a strict no-pet rule. Like… none at all. I wouldn't even be able to keep this little guy."

"There's a river on the way back, if you'd like to release it. It's time to start heading back anyway… If I don't get home soon, Hikaru will probably have an overprotective brother- anxiety attack."

Elsie laughed carefully. "Sure thing."

The two left in silence. Not an amicable silence, no. That awkward silence, where it's like a bubble about to pop and you're scared to see it happen. Elsie moved closer to Kaoru when a group of kids with sparklers ran past (there was a teenager chasing and shouting after them), and she felt her face heating up.

Stupid dumb crush. That was all it was, right? Just a crush.

"We're here," Kaoru said, popping the bubble of silence.

"Come on. I can see some rocks that go out to the middle of the river."

Elsie ran down the grassy bank to the slippery pile of rocks that jutted out about ten meters into the wide river. There were footsteps behind her, so she knew that Kaoru was nearby. When she reached the end, she took the baby koi fish out of her- well, Anita's- bag. She split open the plastic with a fingernail, and poured out the fish. She took a step forward to make sure that the fish landed in the water. She stared at the fish as it slowly swam away, becoming less and less visible in the dark waters.

"Wait..." her face grew concerned and Kaoru was about to ask what was wrong when she suddenly yelled out, "SHIT! Invasive species!"

Trying to make a grab for the fish, Elsie lost her footing. She felt Kaoru grab her around the waist because she was flailing her arms, but all it did was knock her further off-balance. They toppled into the water with a loud splash.

"Oh, damnit all," Elsie grumbled once she stood up. The water was only to mid-thigh where they fell, but she was soaked from head-to-toe. "Kaoru, are you okay?"

"Well, you're standing on my foot," he commented to lighten the mood. He was no better than her- actually worse because he was still partially on the rocks when he fell. "The fish will be okay by the way... I mean, won't it get eaten before it can cause a catastrophe of some sort?"

Elsie managed a small smile. "I think we should head back…"

Kaoru agreed and helped Elsie out of the water. They trudged back to the girl's apartment, their clothes making squishy noises with every waterlogged step. And if someone were to look out through their windows, they would see wet footsteps of the two teenagers.

Elsie opened the door with a weary sigh. _This wasn't how I wanted it to go at all…_ She invited Kaoru inside, threw her bag on the couch and searched for some towels. After handing some towels to him, she changed into her pajamas. Anita was sound asleep on her bed, and Elsie decided not to wake the stressed girl. Instead, she rummaged through Anita's closet until she found some of the clothes Anita 'borrowed' from her older brother.

She walked back out into the kitchen, where Kaoru was attempting to dry his clothes.

"Here," she said, handing the clothes to him. "I'm sorry. And these are 'Nita's brother's clothes… so yeah, she doesn't know that you have them…"

"I'll give them back later. And it's fine." He folded the towels on the table. "Um, is there a place I can change?"

Elsie blinked, embarrassed. "The bathroom's right there."

It didn't take Kaoru long to change, and Elsie nearly fainted from her heart beating so fast. The clothes were a little bit big- a tanktop and sweatpants- but it was so different than his usual high-level… um what was the word? couture, that was it.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

Elsie nodded, still tongue-tied.

He left without a hug or a kiss, but before he closed the door, he was able to hear Elsie say "Thank you, Kaoru."

That night, she was plagued with dreams of Kaoru again, this time his smile and laughter and how he would watch her reactions and how she really wanted to kiss him before he left but couldn't find the courage to do it.

**A/N- Hey, we're back! Well, back-ish (school is so frustrating). I have a couple chapters written, but I'm not sure how long it'll take to put them out. Hope you liked the chapter! Thanks to you who put up with our terrible update schedule. More to come! Next chapter: Elsie's time in Tokyo.**


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